Gingerman Restaurants branch out in to hotels

Ginger Pig, the Hove restaurant which holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, has opened as a hotel for the first time over the Bank Holiday.

Owners Ben and Pamela Mckellar have converted the derelict upper floors of the building in to 11 en-suite double rooms costing upwards of £80 a night.

Ben, who heads up the four-strong Gingerman Restaurants group, told BigHospitality that hotels were a ‘natural route’ for the couple who were hoping to launch more properties if the project was successful.

“This is a real first for us but we quite like the idea of opening more hotels,” he said.

“If this goes well it would be an ideal opportunity, we’ve got restaurants and pubs so can handle the food and beverage side of it quite easily.”

Rooms at The Ginger Pig include an oversized shower or standalone bathtub, Nespresso-style coffee machines, and pre-mixed ‘Ginger’ cocktails.

The downstairs restaurant is also set to start serving breakfast for the first time, with dishes including smoked haddock with curry butter, muffin and poached egg; and the Ginger Pig Full English.

The menu will initially only be on offer to hotel guests, but will eventually become available to the public.

Further growth​

Though there is no capacity to open rooms at the couple’s three other pubs and restaurants in the Brighton area, the Mckellar’s hope hotels could be a chance to expand beyond their Sussex base.

“The interesting thing is we’re very well known locally, but the rooms will bring in a clientele from outside Brighton and Sussex so it’s going to be interesting for us to cast our net further,” said Ben.

“There is no reason why we can’t then expand in to other parts of Sussex and beyond.”

“My understanding is that whole development has stalled,” said Ben. “It will go ahead but I don’t have any time-frame on when, it’s not a priority for us at the moment as we are focusing on the restaurants and rooms.”